Professor Hans Veening

Bucknell mourns the passing of Professor Hans Veening, who retired from Bucknell University in 1997 after a distinguished career of 39 years, including 11 years as Chair of the Chemistry Department.  He passed away on December 27, 2006.  He is survived by Betty Veening, his wife of 49 years. 

 
Hans Veening was born on May 7, 1931 in Arnhem, The Netherlands.  He received the B.A. from Hope College in 1953 and the M.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Purdue University in 1955 and 1959.  In 1958 he was appointed to the Chemistry faculty at Bucknell University.  During his career, Veening worked with over 120 students, resulting in 68 professional publications, 30 of which have student co-authors.

In retirement, Hans continued to serve both Bucknell and his profession.  He was particularly effective at assembling alumni news for the Chemistry Department’s annual report, and was also very active in raising funds for student research in chemistry.  In addition, he was a member of the Board of Directors of The Friends of Joseph Priestley House, serving as President of that body in 2005.

His pioneering work in the early 1970s involving liquid chromatographic (LC) schemes of analysis for metal chelates produced the seminal paper in that field.  Veening's work with LC (and later, capillary electrophoresis) of hemodialysate fluids was also a "first."  Throughout the 80s and 90s Veening maintained a fruitful collaboration with Hans Dieter-Becker of the University of Gotenburg involving the development of sensitive fluorometric methods of detection for LC separations.  In 1985, he was invited by L.B. Rogers to tour China as a member of a US analytical chemistry delegation.

Hans enjoyed a particularly close relationship with his colleagues in Amsterdam, having spent three productive sabbatical years there (1966-67 with Josef F. K. Huber, half of 1984-85 with Hans Poppe, the other half with Roland W. Frei, and 1995 with Nico M. M. Nibbering).  Each of these sabbaticals resulted in publication(s), and led to new directions in Veening's research and teaching at Bucknell.

Professor Veening was the recipient of numerous awards for his outstanding performance in the classroom and laboratory, including the prestigious Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1974.  In 1990, he was honored with Bucknell's highest award for Faculty, the Bucknell Presidential Professorship.  The excellence that Hans demanded of himself and inspired in his students and colleagues has left an indelible mark on the Chemistry Department and on Bucknell University. 

 
Hans was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Lewisburg.